A general view shows the crowd at St Peter's Square after white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel announcing that Catholic Church cardinals had elected a new pope during a conclave on March 13, 2013 at the Vatican. AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABI

(Photo Credit: TIZIANA FABI,TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) – As a college student, getting a good internship is important, so when Villanova University student Sean Hudgins landed a social media internship at the Vatican, he was excited to go halfway across the world.

What he didn’t expect was Pope Benedict XVI announcing he would step down barely a day into the two-month internship.

“When we got here, we expected to work on the Facebook page, update Twitter, but not too much more than that,” says Hudgins. “The excitement of Benedict stepping down and Francis coming in has been phenomenal for us.”

Hudgins has seen a lot of history since arriving at the Vatican. He was in St. Peter’s Square when the white smoke emerged and was on the colonnade taking pictures during the installation mass.

Listen to Hudgins on NewsRadion 1020 KDKA:

Sean Hudgins

During his internship, Hudgins has been working exclusively on the official website for Vatican City News. He’s also been working on other social media projects and says that services like Twitter offer Catholics direct access to the words of Pope Francis.

And while he hasn’t met the new pope yet, he still has seven weeks left in his internship.

“I haven’t met Francis yet, but we’re hoping that maybe that will happen during my time here,” he said.

Since September of 2001 Richert has hosted the KDKA Radio Morning News part of CBS Pittsburgh. Larry Richert has been a constant in Pittsburgh radio and television since the early ‘80s. He has long been an ambassador for the city of Pittsburgh...